Worried
by Raineh Daze
Summary: Being rewritten. Summary removed because it seemed stupid. Anyway, Konami, MinamiXYutaka, MatsuriXNanako, accidents with stairs and some really random bits.
1. Worrying

**Author's Note:**

**I'm not much good at making everything fit in a timescale, so don't expect this to be bound by a calendar. Also, any suggestions for a better title would be appreciate. ^^**

* * *

"Wake up, Kagamin~," a familiar voice said, snapping Kagami out of her sleep as it had so often over the past month. A sigh escaped the tsundere's lips when she realised it was nothing more than the end of her dream, rather than Konata's voice. When was the last time Konata had actually woken her? Wasn't it when she'd had a cold? That was weeks ago, now, and the girl wished that it could happen more – she had eventually, after weeks of thought, especially during her brief illness, decided that she loved the blue-haired otaku. Not that anyone was going to be told…

Kagami's alarm-clock showed that she'd woken up early, as usually happened when her dreams turned to her friend, and there wasn't enough time to go back to sleep. All there was to do was properly get up and prepare for school. Sighing once again, the purple-haired youth set about the task with little enthusiasm.

---

Kagami didn't receive a chance to speak to Konata until lunch, the shorter girl having spent most of the night gaming and having arrived late to school as a result. The combined efforts of Miyuki, Tsukasa and Kagami couldn't get Konata to speak as she had a short time before, the cerulean-haired one having been oddly quiet and preoccupied recently, unknowingly causing Kagami to worry that something was wrong or that the one she loved might have fallen in love with someone else. Outwardly, however, Kagami acted as if nothing was different, not wanting to give anyone a clue to her feelings for her friend, not even her twin.

"You seem worried, Kagamin! Thinking of someone you like?" Konata exclaimed, much to everyone's surprise, Miyuki and Tsukasa having started a conversation about which flowers should be taken when visiting the sick and Kagami having returned to worrying.

"Sh-shut up!" Kagami roared, unable to stop a blush spreading across her face but secretly pleased to be teased and to see Konata's signature grin again.

"Kagami's in love! She didn't deny it! The otaku teased, earning a loud denial before the tsundere changed topic. Konata acted like her normal self for the rest of the day, save for when she thought no-one was looking. Then she let the façade drop, allowing an uncharacteristic exhausted, apprehensive look to settle on her features. Kagami caught sight of the expression several times, unable to resist sneaking surreptitious glances at the smaller girl.

---

"It's nice to see Kona-chan back to normal, isn't it?" Tsukasa happily commented that night, surprising her twin, since Kagami had been absorbed in her homework.

"Yes it is… did you notice how she seemed tired when she thought no-one was looking?" The tsundere asked, quickly realising she had just admitted to looking at Konata frequently enough to notice an expression the blue-haired girl had been trying to hide.

"No, I didn't. Onee-chan is really observant to notice that." Tsukasa complimented, the unintentional hidden meaning going right over her head. "But now you mention it, it does seem strange that she went from quiet to talkative so quickly."

"Maybe she's ill. I hope not." Kagami suggested. _I really hope she isn't, I'll have to check tomorrow. I don't want to needlessly worry…_

"I hope she isn't as well." Tsukasa said, finishing the conversation off when she yawned and said goodnight to the longer-haired sibling, leaving Kagami to finish her homework.

_I really hope she's not hiding something from us…_ Kagami thought before slipping into a troubled sleep, dreams of Konata dying or hating her filling the night.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**This is the first romantic fanfic I've written, so please don't hate me too much if it's no good?**

**Reviews appreciated and wanted.**

**Second chapter will either be up later tonight or tomorrow.**


	2. Flowers

**Author's note:**

**  
I'm going to try and make later chapters longer, so there'll be more time between updates. ^^**

Konata was absent from school the next day, prompting a worried Kagami to phone the Izumi household at the first opportunity, something that attracted no attention due to the tsundere's status as the otaku's best friend. The news received did nothing to alleviate the love-struck girl's worries.

_Flu! I can't believe she came to school yesterday! No wonder she seemed so tired… I hope she gets better soon… I can't bear to lose her so permanently. I've got to visit her. I'll do it tomorrow and ask Tsukasa to come with me, so it doesn't seem at all strange. _

"Hey, Hiiragi, what ya thinkin' about?" Misao asked, surprised Kagami hadn't gone to her twin's classroom as she normally did. The brunette's words interrupted her friend's train of thought to such an extent that it took a minute for an adequate to be thought up.

"I was just thinking about visiting Konata with my sister."

"Thinkin' about the midget again? If you weren't a girl I'd think you love her, since you talk about her or talk with her so much." The athletic girl cheerfully commented, unable to see Kagami's blush due to the tsundere's face being turned towards the desk and barely-touched lunch. "Notice how many people've had flu recently? Half of this class has it or had it. Makes ya wonder who'll get it next, don't it?"

"It does, you're right." Kagami replied, having regained enough composure to face her long-term friend. To keep Misao happy, as Ayano was also absent due to the flu, Kagami talked with her for the rest of lunch, glad of the distraction the conversation provided.

---

"Tsukasa, do you think we should visit Konata tomorrow?" The older twin asked after school, on their way home.

"That's a brilliant idea, Onee-chan! Should we take flowers?"

"Of course! There's no way we can forget them. It's not much of a visit without flowers, is it?" Kagami eagerly replied, an idea of her own flashing through her brain – Tsukasa's idea made it possible for the tsundere to fulfil one of her own ideas, though not in the way she had dreamt.

_Konata's going to get a nice surprise._

---

The otaku's father let the girls in without a word the next morning, pressing a finger to his lips instead to signify that Konata was sleeping and they should be quiet when they went to her room.

Tsukasa stayed only long enough to lay her bouquet on a spare section of table but Kagami stayed longer, putting her hand-picked flowers in an empty vase that was, for some reason, by the computer. Probably something bought on a whim, the girl decided, seeing as it had an anime character on the side.

_She looks so peaceful when sleeping; it's amazing when you consider how noisy and energetic she is, normally. I wish I could see her like this every day but that's impossible, my family would kill me if they knew I had that sort of relationship with a girl…_

Kagami left the room silently, meeting her absent-minded sister outside the house and explaining the time it had taken her to leave by saying she had needed to find a vase so her flowers weren't left in a loose bundle.

---

That evening, when Konata finally felt up to the task of waking up, the otaku looked at the surfaces of her room, surprised. There were three bouquets, a hand-made card and some flowers in the vase.

The small girl felt her eyes focus on the flowers carefully inserted into the pot. There was something strange about one of the flowers…

A few minutes later, Konata sat with her signature grin. Wrapped around a white rose, the least suitable and most romantic flower in the room, was a note with a simple message meticulously traced on it:

"I love you."

Because the letters were traced, it was impossible to work out who had written the note through handwriting. This was a test, Konata felt, and she knew she would pass it – that or die trying.

_I'm the detective and the person that wrote this note is the criminal. Who knew games in real life could be such fun, except for teasing Kagami?_

**Author's note:**

**Oh dear. Konata thinks it's a game…**

**Chapter three will be up by Sunday, maybe tomorrow. Depends if I can work out how to do something.**

**If anyone can come up with a better summary, I'll be grateful.  
**

**As ever, reviews appreciated. ^^**


	3. Deduction

**Author's note:**

**I don't think this is a very good chapter... I hate writer's block.**

Konata had asked some questions around the Izumi household and had discovered several important facts:

Yutaka had made the card but not brought any of the flowers. Not that she was a suspect, anyway.

Sojirou couldn't remember who had brought which flowers, only that Miyuki had brought a bouquet.

All of the visitors had been female – Tsukasa, Kagami and Patti. That meant that either one of them was playing a joke or one of them was hiding their sexuality.

Konata decided, after over an hour of thought on Sunday morning, that the youngest person could be ruled out – close inspection of the bouquets had yielded her name on one. That left only the twins.

_I'll have to ask Tsukasa when Kagami's not around… I don't want to get her angry at me. So, I'll find out tomorrow. _

Satisfied, the otaku spent the rest of the day playing games, not knowing that the one that loved her was filling up a wastepaper basket with notes and letters, desperate to see how the blue-haired girl felt about someone loving her.

**Sorry for the ridiculously short chapter. Writer's block. I'll try and make the next one more suitable…**


	4. Tears

**AN: Procrastination, writer's block and an ever-changing idea about what to put in here made writing this difficult, sorry for the wait.**

**

* * *

**

The next day started normally but ended with tears, pain and guilt.

Konata had casually asked Tsukasa before her sister entered whether she had brought in a bouquet and upon receiving the news that she had, Konata subsided into an internal monologue which left her friends wondering why she was so quiet.

_So, Kagami left the flowers? She really is a tsundere, then, always hiding how she feels. Who could have guessed that she- wait, if this isn't a joke then that means she loves me! I like her but I don't think I love her! I can't let her know that, Kagami must have such a fragile heart to be so indirect…_

The otaku continued in a similar vein for several minutes, before being interrupted by the arrival of the twin-pigtailed girl. Then the short, sapphire-haired one dragged Kagami back outside before she even had chance to get a greeting out, provoking an angry response when they were sufficiently far from the classroom that it wouldn't attract any attention – standing at the top of a flight of stairs, slippery with some unidentified liquid left lying there with no sign.

"Hey, Kagamin, do you love me?" Konata interrupted, latching onto the taller girl with puppy-dog eyes, checking for any sign that the words were true. A brief expression of shock crossed the tsundere's face before being eclipsed by an expression of embarrassment and rage.

Kagami instinctively reacted, pushing the small, child-like person off her. In normal circumstances, this would have been perfectly appropriate and almost expected – but when standing at the top of some slippery stairs, when one of the people involved in the unwanted embrace had their back to the stairs.

Konata landed at an awkward angle with an audible snap, not moving from her position as would be expected of someone recovering from a relatively short fall. Her not-so-secret admirer fell to their knees, automatically thinking the worst – that they had gone ahead and killed the person they loved, killed the one person they wanted to protect from the cruelty and harsh realities of the world at large, let them stay insulated in the fantasy world of games.

_What have I done? Why didn't I think? I'm bright enough to know that doing something like that is dangerous, yet I pushed her down the stairs! Why did I react like that – I want to be held by Konata and far more, yet one hug is enough to make me send her to her doom! What kind of person am I, pushing away everything I want, destroying that which I treasure most?_

Kagami was far more fragile than she let on and this was too much for her – considering what she thought she had done, it was no surprise that she started sobbing, tears flowing freely down her face. The weather outside, as if feeling Kagami's pain, let tears of its own fall, accompanying them with thundering sobs and bursts of electrical fury. The girl's sobs were loud enough to be heard over the noise of the storm, attracting more attention than her previous raised voice – shouting wasn't uncommon but a loudly sobbing girl was.

Tsukasa and Miyuki, knowing both their friends were outside, were the first to investigate, the normally airheaded girl doing her best to comfort her sister, the intelligent student going straight to Konata's side and inspecting her body to see what damage had been done.

"It's alright, she's breathing. It's her leg that's broken but she is unconscious." Miyuki assured, her words breaking through to Kagami's conscious thoughts after several repetitions, causing the tsundere to raise her head, tears slowly drying up.

The tears still weren't over for the lilac-haired schoolgirl, though…

---

Kagami dragged her feet to the Izumi household that night, tears once more running down her face. Before she had simply been odd, mildly more dislikeable than her sisters; now she was an outcast from her entire family, except for her eternally faithful twin, the one member of her family not to act like she was some monster for how she felt for Konata.

_I knew I should have burnt those letters, destroyed the words written on them so no-one could see how I felt… I didn't and now I'm paying for it. I should have shut the window and my door, only an idiot would leave them open when there's so much paper around... Where can I turn, where will people not reject me? It's not as if I can go home, my family hates me…_

The tsundere was so deep in her thoughts that she failed to notice her feet were erratically leading her to the most likely place she could find sanctuary – a household with two eroge-playing residents and one sickly girl.

_If they judge me, what hope is there I can find somewhere to sleep?_

Ribbons long lost, rain plastering down her hair and drenching the same clothes she had headed home in, the outcast schoolgirl finally realised where she was, standing in front of the door of the Izumi household.

_I hope they don't reject me when they find out why I've come to them…_

Kagami raised her hand to knock, fear, doubt and depression almost paralysing her, but the amount of walking she had done in the day – all the way from her house to the Izumi household – combined with eating too little food and her emotional state finally had an effect, causing the tsundere to succumb to unconsciousness, fainting but collapsing heavily into the door.

Wondering who could be knocking the door so heavily at this hour, Sojirou rose to investigate the sound…

* * *

**AN: Longest chapter so far, lucky us. Anyway, I had this idea BEFORE reading any fanfics that included it (the outcast bit) so don't accuse me of plagiarism.**

**  
Still need a better summary. And more reviews. ;)**


	5. Sanctuary

Kagami slept a fevered sleep, sweet dreams creating brief reprieves from nightmares. One dream started with her being in Konata's bed, waking up at the same time as Sojiro burst in, declaring Konata to be dead from an incredibly infectious disease and that they had been quarantined in the house with her body until further notice. The dream developed steadily, becoming increasingly surreal as various friends made an appearance, until ultimately the Hiiragi family, minus Tsukasa who was inside the building, made an appearance and set the residence on fire.

Konata sat beside her unconscious friend, sitting in a chair placed beside the bed – Konata's bed, it having been the only free one at the time. She hadn't returned home until the afternoon of the day after her fall but the lilac-haired girl was still asleep, causing the otaku to worry. What reason was there for sleeping for most of the day? Exhaustion was possible but Kagami had seemed well-rested the day before…

_More importantly, why is she even here? I know she must have felt guilty for hurting me but she also knew I wouldn't be home… maybe Tsukasa will know?_

Konata quickly picked up her cellphone, calling Tsukasa and spitting out a hurried greeting, getting a confused reply. After repeating her greeting slow enough to understand, the blue-haired girl started to interrogate the airheaded twin.

"When was the last time you saw Kagami?"

"Yesterday, just after getting back from school. Then-"

"Did you know she collapsed outside the door to my house?"

"No but-"

"Last question: why was she wandering around outside late at night, in the middle of a storm?"

"Our parents kicked them out, along with our sisters. I'm the only person that didn't want her to leave…"

"WHAT? Why did they do that! She's their daughter!" Konata responded, furious at the majority of the Hiiragi family – what legitimate cause was there for ousting Kagami with no notice?

"Because... because…" Tsukasa hesitated, not wanting her twin's secret to be made public – as it was, and her family had all sworn to keep it secret, considering it a matter of shame that no-one needed to know about. Still, Kagami was sleeping in the Izumi household and Konata would eventually find out, one way or the other. "Because… onee-chan loves you."

The otaku sat silently, unable to come up with a reply for several minutes. "Thank you for telling me, Tsukasa. Bye."

Konata hung up, staring at the opposite wall, her gaze blank – a direct contrast to her internal feelings.

_So, they feel like that, do they? I thought they were good people, yet they cast out their own daughter without valid cause! That's no reason to throw someone out, let alone your own family! They didn't even know if she had anywhere to go!_

It was at this point that Sojiro walked in, having heard his daughter's shouting. He was glad that Yutaka was out with Minami, the sudden outburst and equally swift silence would have undoubtedly shocked her and the house's ambience was already at the second-lowest point it had been whilst he lived there – any more negative emotions and it would feel more like a graveyard than a residence.

"Why were you shouting, Konata?" The man asked, curious as the proverbial cat but hoping he wouldn't suffer a similar fate.

"I was talking to Tsukasa on the phone and found out why Kagami was here."

"Which is?"

"Her family threw her out for loving me."

Sojiro's reaction was much the same as his daughter's, though undoubtedly quieter, proving that the Izumi household was an extremely liberal one – though that was obvious enough from their choice of games and the fact that Konata had been playing them for years.

"Well, then, I suppose she'll have to stay here for a while, until more suitable arrangements are made or the general consensus is that she can permanently move in. I'll go make arrangements." The author said, hurrying out of the room and going about his business with vigour – at least one more place to sleep was needed by the end of the day, otherwise people would be forced to share beds and that, whilst interesting, would almost invariably be incredibly embarrassing.

It was at this point that, oblivious to all the shouting going on, Kagami woke up with a groan, clutching her head and wondering why it hurt so much. She hadn't been drinking, though considering her last memory was of beginning to collapse it was possible that it would have seemed to the Izumi family she had.

"Good evening, Kagamin." Konata replied cheerfully, masking her real emotions for her friend's sake – things were bad enough for the tsundere as it was without people around her being negative. "Why are you holding your head?"

"Because it hurts, of course. Wait, what am I doing in your bed? And why am I lying next to some crutches?" The lavender-haired twin asked, getting as close to operating normally as she was likely to for some time.

"You're in my bed because it was the only one spare at the time, as I was in hospital. And the crutches are there because I couldn't think of anywhere else to put them. I've got a broken leg, after all." The cerulean-haired otaku replied, indicating the cast on her lower leg.

"It's not a bad break, is it?" Kagami asked fearfully, worried she might have done lasting damage to the one she loved. She could never forgive herself for doing that, if she had done it.

"No, it was just a single, clean break. It'll be fine. Oh, and you're going to be staying here for a while. Tsukasa told me what happened." Konata answered, hoping that the tsundere wouldn't be angry at her twin for telling her friend.

"Thank you for letting me stay here, Konata." Kagami said, remembering what Konata had asked just before being pushed down the stairs. She hadn't answered, she had said nothing to the one person she wanted to say that to.

"Never again, never again am I going to keep anything from her." Kagami mumbled, looking straight at the person she loved as she spoke.

"I do love you, Konata."

---

**AN: Over 1000 words in a chapter, yay!**

**I know one more thing that must be in this story. Your guess about what's going to happen next is as good as mine.**


	6. Sleep

Lightning flashed, the ensuing clap of thunder making it impossible to understand Konata's reply, her downturned face making it impossible to get any clue about the nature of the reply from her lips. The only word that could be caught, as the thunder faded, was Kagami's name.

"What did you just say, Konata?" The tsundere asked, sure the answer wouldn't be a good one. After all, the blue-haired girl had looked rather sad as she had spoken. The azure-eyed student wondered whether she even wanted to know, if the following words were those she feared more than death itself – death wouldn't leave her that lonely, knowing that she'd been rejected by the one person she wanted to hold and be held by.

"I said I don't know… I don't think I love you that way but at other times I'm not sure, then it's almost as if I do but something's holding me back." Konata mumbled; her words indistinct but still clear enough to her listener, causing the girl to recline and think on the words for a few minutes, not noticing what her friend said.

_Either she really is unsure or she's a brilliant actor… either way, she's left me my hopes and I wasn't even expecting that. This way, even if she doesn't love me, she's shown that she cares how I feel, despite the constant teasing._

The thought cheered the schoolgirl up, allowing her to overcome the feelings of fatigue and the aches that permeated her body. Her smile was interrupted by a bout of coughing, causing Konata, already concerned at the lack of response to her words, to ask if her friend, probably her best friend, if she was okay.

"I'm fine, why are you asking?" Kagami questioned, not wanting to let on how ill she felt. The coughs, along with her words upon waking, had given her state away to the otaku, however, along with the omnipresent fever that Sojiro had discovered the previous night, when he was trying to help the unconscious youth but also trying to avoid doing anything that would give people cause to arrest him.

"You said your head hurt, you've had a fever since last night, and you're not doing a very good job of hiding your shivering by the way, and you were just coughing. Oh, and you didn't seem to pay any attention to what I was saying for five minutes, almost as if your mind were somewhere else. Is that possible, could it be that Kagamin can separate her mind from her body?" Konata asked, gasping and slipping ever-so-gracefully into her normal, fantasy-filled nature.

"Oh… " The tsundere replied, not realising how obvious she must have made it that her health was less than perfect. Since the other girl obviously knew that she was ill, maybe it was best to tell her all the symptoms. "Well, I also feel very tired and ache everywhere."

"Flu." The otaku easily replied, surprising the twin as she would have thought that someone playing so many games would have no time to be able to recognise medical symptoms and work out what illness it was. After all, hadn't she and Tsukasa once asked Miyuki the difference between a cold and flu?

"How do you know that, it doesn't seem like something you'd know!" Kagami exclaimed, slightly startled and sitting up again, ignoring the pounding in her head.

"After Yutaka moved here, it seemed more important to know, since she's often ill. That and needing to know about medical illnesses to beat a game made me research them more." The emerald-eyed girl replied swiftly, once more proving that she would only do any research into subjects if it furthered her interests.

"So that's the reason." The lilac-haired girl sighed, realising her love-interest's hobbies extended tendrils everywhere and anything suggesting a desire to learn could be easily pinned on a particular game, manga or anime. Another bout of coughing seized Kagami, one proving that, whilst she may not have loved the studious girl, Konata cared deeply about her friend. This was because she gently pushed the other girl onto her back, pulling the cover over her and telling her to rest, concern evident in eyes that the tsundere considered worth more than every emerald in the world.

When Konata had left the room, Kagami closed her eyes and thought for a while, too many thoughts circling around her head for sleep to even be plausible, staying awake hardly being restful with the storm still raging outside.

_She said she didn't know if she loved me but then she said that sometimes she nearly did but it was as if something was holding her back… but just now she seemed so caring, almost like she does love me… what could be stopping her? It can't be fear of rejection, not any more… but what, then? Fear of how people will react? I can understand that…_

A choked sob escaped Kagami's lips,the recent past still too painful to think of. Quite apart from the event itself, it had coloured the good memories with her family, tainted them with feelings of betrayal and her family's evident hatred. Now with tears streaming down her face, she turned over, trying to go back to sleep and escape the thoughts, no longer confused but instead torturing her with what she had once possessed and now lost. In doing so, Kagami closed her eyes and turned her back on the door.

Konata, watching from the door, was amazed at her friend's mood – she had seen Kagami angry before, too many times to count, but never upset like this.

_There's no way I can leave her alone in this mood, not and still consider myself a friend. She wouldn't want anyone else to comfort her, anyway – it doesn't cost me anything to give her something she must want and I have nothing else to do… apart from that, she's my best friend and it's my duty to help her._

At that, Konata slowly began to make her way across the floor, not wanting to fall and cause Kagami any more distress. Slowly, she slid herself under the covers, crutches lying nearby on the floor, and encircled her arms around the crying girl's waist, finally alerting the nearly-oblivious tsundere to her presence and actions.

"K-K-Konata?" Kagami stuttered, shocked. She had been sure that she would never be hugged like this, especially by the one person she wanted it from.

"Shh, Kagamin. Just sleep. I'm here for you, you're not alone." Konata whispered comfortingly, voice strangely reminiscent of a cat's purr, soft and peaceful, "Even if I don't love you, I'm still here for you and I'll stand by you through anything. You're my best friend, Kagamin."

Konata's tone, words and hug were enough to overcome the negativity and feeling of lost caused by her memories. Happy, tired and wrapped in an embrace she had never expected to receive, the tsundere swiftly sank into an untroubled sleep.

_Sleep well, Kagamin. I might not be here forever…_

With that, Konata closed her eyes and rested, deciding to make the most of the unexpected opportunity to sleep, unaware of the storm's ceasing. Less than ten minutes later, both girls were asleep.

**AN: I like this chapter more than the others. Maybe because of the peaceful sleeping. And the hug. =]**

**Reviews always appreciated and desired, even if you've reviewed before. **


	7. Revelation

Konata was the first to wake, not having been particularly tired when she had fallen asleep. The blue-haired otaku lay quietly for what seemed like an eternity, looking out of a window at the star-speckled expanse of the sky, noticing that there was no moon yet. Therefore she had been asleep either a few hours or long enough that it was early morning and the moon had sunk beyond the horizon again.

Judging from the muffled sounds of conversation that could be heard, it would be the former, seeing as Yutaka never staying up as long as her cousin. Satisfied that getting up now wouldn't be a completely wasted exercise, Konata loosened her embrace and carefully stood up using the nearby crutches; glad they hadn't been moved somehow whilst she slept.

Konata couldn't resist a backward glance at the door, wanting to see Kagami's sleeping face again. For a second the same peaceful face she had seen last time the tsundere was ill was visible but then an anxious expression crossed the lilac-haired girl's face, sensing the lack of the other body that had been beside it for hours, keeping nightmares at bay. An arm reached for the space Konata had occupied for the majority of the evening but grasped at nothing but air. A few minutes later, the arm stopped reaching for another person and laid still, the sleeping tsundere returning to a deep sleep, though it was obviously a troubled one from occasional whimpers and the way Kagami had curled into a ball. The distressed expression also lingered.

_Without me she seems so unhappy… but I can't lie there doing nothing forever, I'll get bored and restless. Apart from that, what if someone sees? I know Dad wouldn't mind but what about Yutaka? Even if she doesn't mind, it would still be awkward. Besides, it's not as if I'm not going to come back here later._

Her conscience satisfied, Konata headed towards the voices, ending up standing in the door of the kitchen unnoticed by Yutaka and Sojiro, who were having a conversation.

"Are you sure it wasn't the other way around?" The author asked, seeming surprised at something. Konata wondered what he was asking about, having missed that part of the conversation.

"I'm sure. They're easy to tell apart and you don't need to look for long to be sure about something like this." Yutaka replied, unhappy about her words being doubted.

"It just seemed more likely the other way round, it's quite likely, after all." Sojiro answered, careful not to say why it was quite likely. He felt sure that neither his daughter nor her friend wanted that piece of information to be common knowledge.

"Excuse me but what are you talking about?" Konata asked, unable to contain her impatience to know what her father and cousin were actually talking about. The otaku had a vague feeling of dread, almost as if she already knew what the conversation was about and didn't like it.

"If what Yutaka has told me is correct, there will be no need to find another place to sleep." Sojiro replied, trying to be tactful and not say anything that could potentially upset his daughter. This tact was rather spoiled by an uncharacteristic bout of carelessness on Yutaka's part, as the younger girl stated that they were talking about Yutaka's seeing Konata hugging Kagami whilst sleeping in the same bed.

Konata's face remained blank whilst her mind hurriedly worked to come up with an explanation, whilst partly wondering if she even needed an explanation other than the most obvious one. However, as the majority of Konata's mind was still undecided, she didn't want people assuming that she was in love with her best friend.

"It's not what it seems like!" Konata exclaimed, spitting out a clichéd phrase whilst she finished working out just how she would explain this. Honesty seemed to be the best tactic. "Kagami was crying and I felt that she needed to be comforted but she wouldn't want anyone except me to comfort her, so I did. It was comfortable, though, so I didn't get up when she fell asleep and then I fell asleep."

"Oh. That makes sense." Yutaka said, realising there was an important question she had to ask, not realising that it was the one question Konata didn't really want asked. "Why would Kagami-senpai only want you to comfort her?"

"Do you promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to say?" Konata asked; acting far more mature than her normal actions indicated was possible. When Yutaka nodded her head, the blue-haired otaku continued. "Well… Kagami loves me. Which is also why she's here – her family kicked her out."

"You two don't mind that she loves another girl?" Yutaka asked, shocked. She had expected the Izumi family, despite their relatively liberal outlook on everything, to share most people's views on this matter.

"No, why would we? It doesn't hurt anyone and if nothing is harmed by something why be against it?" Sojiro interjected, expressing the Izumi family's view on things in a single sentence.

Yutaka remained silent for a few minutes, thinking. _They don't mind that sort of thing? Does that mean it's safe to tell them? I knew I would have to eventually but I thought I wouldn't be able to live here once I did. Now it seems that it's perfectly safe to tell them._

"I have something I want to say but I also want it to not be told to people outside of this house." Yutaka piped up, slightly nervous as her relatives had been staring at the salmon-haired girl since she had last spoken, expecting a reply. Once promises were given, Konata's long-winded and definitely something straight out of a fantasy game, Yutaka spoke, looking at the table and unable to meet anyone's eye.

"Minami and I have been dating for a few months." The frail girl mumbled, not expecting the ecstatic reply Konata gave and Sojiro's tears of joy.

"That's wonderful!" Konata exclaimed, smiling at the younger girl. "If you love someone and they love you, nothing else matters – gender doesn't matter at all, only that you're loved and not alone. I'm also amazed we didn't see it coming, you've been spending so much time with her lately."

Internally, the emerald-eyed girl now felt very alone, not sharing that type of bond with anyone. She knew that one person wanted to be like that with her but her feelings were too clouded for that bond to be able to form. Konata hoped it would – she didn't want to be alone.

The impromptu meeting broke up as Sojiro returned to fixing sleeping arrangements, telling Yutaka that Minami was no welcome to spend as much time in the Izumi residence as she liked and that he didn't mind if anything happened, so long as it was quiet. The second part of his statement caused the frail girl's face to be consumed by a blatantly obvious blush that Konata smiled at the sight of when she went to watch a new anime she had heard about, having remembered about it upon looking at a clock.

---

Kagami's desire to escape her nightmares finally overcame her fatigue and desire to sleep, resulting in the tsundere bolting upright and looking around for the small, blue-haired girl that meant everything to her. Seeing that she wasn't around, Kagami felt incredibly alone.

"Konata…" the lilac-haired girl hoarsely whispered; rising to her feet despite her illness and heading towards the door. She needed to be near Konata.

* * *

**These chapters just get longer and longer. Anyway, next chapter should be up tomorrow.**

**Something definitely unusual in Lucky Star fanfics is going to be coming up soon. One clue: Matsuri.**

**As ever, reviews appreciated. And comments on the new summary.  
**


	8. Visitors

Flames licked at the monstrous beast, melting its massive steel carcass into a puddle of metal with a tortured scream of pain. The villain, standing dramatically against a backdrop of a flaming forest, cursed the protagonists before disappearing into the flames as the credits started rolling.

"That was anticlimactic; I thought it would build up to a large battle…" Konata complained, having heard someone come through the door and expecting it to be her father or Yutaka, being under the impression Kagami was still asleep. This illusion was shattered when the person knelt down behind Konata and wrapped their arms around the otaku's small body.

The fact that they were embracing Konata was enough for the blue-haired girl to work out who it was but another clue was the lack of sleeves – when Konata had returned from the hospital she had put Kagami in one of Kanata's old dresses – it had been loose-fitting, sleeveless and ankle length, which meant that Kagami could wear it without too many problems. The one thing Konata had been concerned about whilst doing that was what her father's reaction to the use of the dress would be but he hadn't commented, so the schoolgirl assumed that he hadn't minded.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping, Kagami?" Konata asked; concern in her voice.

"I can't sleep…" Kagami replied, sleepy now despite the uncomfortable position she found herself in. If the majority of her family were the poison that caused nightmares and made falling asleep impossible, Konata's presence was the antidote.

"You can rest your head in my lap, if you like." Konata offered, knowing it would be more comfortable for the both of them than the current position they were in.

Sleepily, Kagami thanked the otaku and moved, breathing becoming slower after a few minutes had passed, whilst the emerald-eyed girl smiling as she looked at the sleeping tsundere. The lavender dress suited her, despite being knee-length, and Konata held the opinion that Kagami looked better with her hair down. Just as she was musing on that point, someone knocked on the house's door. Yutaka answered and, after a brief conversation, the visitors headed towards the kitchen, depositing two objects, before entering the same room Konata and Kagami were in.

Konata was surprised at the identity of the visitors – Tsukasa was expected but Matsuri wasn't. The otaku had been under the impression that only one of the Hiiragi family accepted Kagami's feelings but judging from the slight smile on the older sister's face as she entered, Matsuri also considered sexuality unimportant.

"What are you two doing here?" Konata demanded, confused. It seemed too late for an unscheduled visit and she was still confused about Matsuri, having thought that she would have been the least-accepting of Kagami's sisters.

"We brought some of onee-chan's things here." Tsukasa explained, "And I would have originally come on my own except onee-san disagreed with the rest of our family because-"

"It doesn't matter why, just that I'm on Kagami's side." Matsuri interrupted, clapping her hand over the airhead-twin's mouth before she revealed anything that the college student wanted to keep private. Deciding that ending the conversation there would just invite questions, the brown-haired girl changed topic. "Look after Kagami well, Konata."

Matsuri, standing behind Tsukasa, said the sentence with a wink, causing the otaku – normally incapable of being embarrassed – to blush at the hidden meaning in the words. Part of her wanted to admit that she loved Kagami but another part was vehemently opposed to the idea of loving the tsundere in the first place, whilst the rest of her mind decided embarrassment was the best response.

"I-it's not like that!" Konata exclaimed, once more trying to convince other people, and herself, that she didn't feel that way for Kagami and that she was only doing the duties required of a best friend.

"If that's true, why are you two like that?" Matsuri asked, before glancing at a clock and realising the time, shouting out a hasty goodbye and dragging Tsukasa out of the house, knowing that their parents would be suspicious enough of their leaving home so late in the day without coming back ridiculously late.

The slam of the door closing as the sisters left awoke Kagami, causing her to groan and try to focus through her headache on the face looking down at her. A smile came to the azure-eyed student's face when she recognised the hair colour and catlike smile.

"Kagamin looks so cute when she's sleeping." Konata teased, happy to see her friend awake. Her legs had gone numb and the current program visible on TV didn't interest her at all. "Matsuri and Tsukasa came whilst you were sleeping and they just left. Apparently they brought some of your things over but I haven't had time to check exactly what they brought."

"What? Matsuri came? She seemed like the angriest person there but if she was acting that explains why she seemed too dramatic…" the tsundere replied, going over the encounter in her head. However, by the time she had reached the end, Kagami was clutching at Konata, hoarsely begging the otaku not to protect her from Inori, an unusual request – Konata wasn't the most reliable person to turn to and seeking protection from your sister was strange in itself.

"I promise that I'll protect you, Kagami." Konata replied, the reply simple.

_So that's why she had those bruises… Inori must have attacked her but if Matsuri seemed like the angriest, Inori would have appeared pretty calm. I won't let her do that again. I won't let anyone hurt my Kagamin like that again. Wait, my? She's not mine! She's hers! _

"Thank you, Konata." Kagami whispered, letting her head rest in Konata's lap again. She was surprised when the otaku lifted her head and spoke.

"You can't go to sleep here, Kagamin, it's not that comfortable. Go back to bed and I'll follow you." Konata smirked, hiding her insecurity about her feelings behind a mask of playful mockery and innuendos. The tsundere, not caring where she slept so long as Konata was there, obediently followed the instructions, pausing at the door when she saw a futon lying beside the bed.

"Bed." The otaku said, repeating her monosyllabic message when the lilac-haired girl opened her mouth to argue. Seeing no point in arguing, Kagami reluctantly complied, turning to face Konata once she was comfortable.

"You're still going to be here, right?" Kagami questioned, afraid of waking up alone again.

"I'll be beside you or on that." Konata replied with a smile, indicating the computer in the room. "I won't leave you alone."

"Thank you." Kagami mumbled sleepily, glad she wouldn't be alone and that one less member of her family hated her than she had thought. Within quarter of an hour, the tsundere was sleeping soundly once again.

Konata, not at all tired after her earlier nap, headed for the computer once she was sure her friend was asleep. As she turned the machine on, Konata's thoughts left the serious topics that had occupied most of the day and returned to the thoughts that had flowed through her head for much of her life – thoughts of anime and games, specifically about how she needed to catch up on the time she'd missed due to her leg.

Even as Konata started playing, a small part of her mind still thought about Kagami.

* * *

**Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow. It might not be up until Tuesday, though.**

**And, at last, the average word count per chapter is over 1000. =D**

**Reviews desired.**


	9. Boxes

**AN: Finally! A new day! XD**

**Sorry it's late. Writer's block didn't help. There'll be no more updates until the Monday after next week but I'll write more chapters whilst I'm on holiday. No internet but there is a laptop. ^^

* * *

**

Konata sat outside the door of her room, waiting for her teacher to arrive and be let in. The otaku wasn't entirely sure why the visit was being arranged – it had been hastily arranged via the MMORPG they both played and Kuroi had asked if she could bring someone else over, without giving an explanation why. Konata had seen no reason in saying no – it wasn't as if she could go out and talk to people easily, so any visitors were welcome.

_If this is a friendly visit, then why after school on a Thursday? Not that I'm complaining, it's better than receiving no visit at all, but it does seem rather odd timing. And why does Kuroi-sensei want to bring someone with her?_

Sounds of life from within the room were ignored – Kagami had been awake for hours, sorting through the two suitcases her sisters had brought, one contained clothing, the other schoolbooks and as many things they knew that she would want at some point. This mostly amounted to reading material, which the tsundere was grateful for, spending most of the time when she should have been trying to find somewhere to put the suitcases reading.

There was no knock on the door when the day's visitors arrived, the door having been left open by Yutaka (at Konata's request) when she entered, and Konata turned from looking out a window to looking straight at a cardboard box, carried by her teacher.

"AAGH! Why are you carrying that!" Konata exclaimed, startled by the seemingly silent appearance.

"What, not even a 'hello?" Kuroi asked, annoyed, "If I wasn't carrying this box, I would hit you. Anyway, you have to pick between the box I'm carrying and the box Matsuri-"

"Matsuri?" Konata asked, confused – was it Kagami's sister or another Matsuri and if it was her sister, why was she with the teacher?

"Hiiragi's sister. Surely you know her?" The blonde asked, not understanding why Konata was asking the question.

"She was here last night. Which is why I'm wondering why she's with you. Tsukasa was about to give the reason why she isn't against same-sex relationships but was stopped. Then you bring her here the next day." Konata continued, mind automatically leaping to conclusions, "And you haven't been online anywhere near as much recently. I also remember Tsukasa saying something about Matsuri not being at home all the time recently…"

"I can see you've guessed it." Matsuri said with a sigh, stepping out from behind Kuroi and putting the box she was carrying on the floor. "Please don't let anyone know, I don't want Inori to find out, or my parents. Tsukasa already knows but I'm not sure if Kagami should know that I'm dating your teacher yet…"

Kagami could clearly hear the entire conversation.

_I'm not the only one in my family that feels this way? That's why Matsuri hadn't been at home so much lately? She's been with Kuroi-sensei? Now I think about it, it makes sense… she seemed distracted at mealtimes. I must have as well. Maybe we all were – that would explain why no-one commented._

"Back to the reason for our coming, please?" Kuroi asked, irritated by the interruption and the fact that her and Matsuri's one major secret had been spilled without her being consulted. The blonde had decided that she would seek some form of compensation. Preferably in her apartment…

Matsuri and Konata, realising their conversation had left someone out when it shouldn't have, as well as sidetracking them from the entire point of the visit and carrying on longer than necessary, and they instantly stopped talking, allowing the teacher to carry on with her explanation.

"As I was saying, you have to pick between the two boxes. One contains homework; one contains a cake as well as less homework. I've got to give you something to do whilst you can't get to school, after all." She explained, placing her box beside Matsuri's and stepping back, leaving Konata a clear view of the containers. They were both cardboard and completely identical – from the outside it was impossible to tell which contained cake and which didn't.

After a few minutes, the otaku began to mutter something that would have seemed nonsensical to most people. Kuroi and Matsuri assumed it was some way of deciding which box to pick but it was actually an all-purpose spell Konata had picked up from some anime or game, trying it out in the desperate hope that it would give her less of a workload and more cake.

Luck was on Konata's side when she pointed at the box on the left – when opened, it was revealed to contain a sponge cake covered in icing, with a rough, home-made look to it. The other box wasn't opened but was taken away by the visitors a few minutes later.

"You know I put cake in both boxes, Nanako?" Matsuri asked as they left the building, the brunette carrying the box.

"You know I do – I was standing in the door. And you know that I put an equal amount of homework in each box, lower than I should have. If what you've said is right, there're enough problems in that house without me giving them more."

"I hope we've done the right thing…"

"By letting Konata know about us? She would have found out eventually, it doesn't make any difference. And we gave her and your sister a cake as well as giving Konata homework, though I'm not sure how much of it she'll do on her own. Don't worry about it. What you should worry about is finding a way to make up for not including me in that little revelation."

"I know a way that I think we'll both enjoy." Matsuri answered, giggling slightly.

"Tomorrow, then? If it's tonight we might wake up too late." The blonde asked, taking the box from her girlfriend.

"Tomorrow's fine for me." Matsuri said, glancing around to check if anyone was watching before giving Kuroi a brief kiss as a way of saying goodbye and heading homewards, thinking of a way to explain arriving home far later than normal.

The teacher smiled and headed to her apartment, happily awaiting the end of the next day even more than she would have otherwise.

* * *

"You heard it all, Kagamin?" Konata asked as she returned to her bedroom, wondering how she was going to get the box in there.

"You wanted me to hear anything that was said; you left the door slightly open, didn't you? You know I heard." Kagami replied softly, partly due to her headache and partly due to an association of loud voices with her confrontation with her family.

"I was just checking, you might have fallen asleep again and started dreaming of food." Konata said cheerily, "And now we're talking about food, you can have the cake. Apart from your liking icing more than I do, you need it more."

"I need it more? But I pushed you down the stairs and broke your leg!"

"And you got thrown out by your family. Besides, if you don't want the cake it's mine and I can do what I want with it. If that's the case, the cake is now yours." Konata argued.

"Thank you, Konata." The tsundere replied, smiling. "I know you've already done so much for me but can you do one more thing?"

"And what is that, Kagamin?"

"Can you please wear your hair in a ponytail?"

* * *

**Strangest cliff-hanger yet. ^^**

**I honestly don't know why I'm writing this story – I don't like hurting my favourite characters, I much prefer random fluff, yet here I am torturing them. How strange. Ah well, so long as someone likes this story, it doesn't matter.**


	10. Ponytails

**AN: Starting from this chapter, Kagami's eyes are being described as their proper colour. Look closely – they're purple, not blue.

* * *

**

"That's not a problem but why?" Konata asked, slightly confused about the request. It was no problem for her to do something so simple but why did Kagami want her hair to be in a ponytail?

The tsundere's reply was inaudible, mumbled with a slight blush spreading beneath the violet eyes. She turned away but repeated her answer slightly louder when Konata asked again, though it was still inaudible. Finally, Kagami answered loud enough that Konata could make sense of the reply. "I think you look better with a ponytail than with your hair down. I like ponytails…"

"That reminds me of Kyon." Konata commented, expanding upon her answer when what she could see of the lilac-haired girl's face seemed confused. "From the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – he once told Haruhi that he liked how she looked in a ponytail."

"Ah." Kagami replied, turning back to face the person she loved with the blush still evident on her face. She still seemed slightly confused, though that wasn't surprising.

"I bought the light novels for the sake of completeness, they're around somewhere." Konata said; revealing how deep her devotion to the series was before resuming the previous conversation. "I'll put my hair into a ponytail if you like but there's one problem – I have nothing on hand to tie it up with."

"If I hadn't lost my ribbons that night, I would give you one of them." Kagami said slowly, looking around for something suitable and giving no indication of what that night was as there was no need – there was only one night the tsundere could have been referring to. Eventually the lavender-haired girl remembered that the dress she was wearing had a ribbon tied around the waist and undid it, handing it to the otaku who had sat on the bed with her.

The blue-haired girl took the ribbon and seemed, to her friend, to take an agonisingly long time putting her hair into the ponytail with the long ribbon. The contrast of the indigo velvet against Konata's hair was a pleasant one and the girl beside her said so.

"I'm glad you like it, Kagamin." The otaku cheerfully replied, coming up with a few conditions for her wearing the ponytail – she would have happily worn it without them, since her best friend liked it – but it livened things up. "There are a few conditions to my wearing my hair like this. Firstly, as soon as we find another ribbon you have to tie your hair into a ponytail as well. Secondly, you can't cut your hair, though you can do anything else you like to it. Finally, once we find one ribbon we have to look for a blue one to use on a more permanent basis."

"I accept all those conditions." The indigo-eyed girl replied instantly, not seeing the conditions as anything difficult, simply requiring that she get used to tying her hair differently. Compared with the other lifestyle changes she was making, such a minor change wasn't even an irritation.

"Excuse me but did you say you were looking for a blue ribbon?" Minami asked, having been let into the house a few minutes before and having walked past the door at the right time to hear the conditions. "I have one in my pocket, if you want it."

Konata replied that they wanted it as Kagami rose to collect the ribbon, thanking the green-haired girl for giving it to them and watching her continue down the corridor, briefly feeling jealous that they were loved in return by the person they loved before shaking such thoughts out of her head – she should have been happy for Minami and Yutaka, not jealous.

The tsundere sat back on the bed and started to tie her hair up but was interrupted by Konata taking the ribbon and doing it for her. She enjoyed it but wondered why her blue-haired friend was tying her hair when it was obvious that she could do it herself as well as resisting the urge to lean backwards into the otaku's warm body.

"Your hair is longer than it was last time it was tied in a ponytail." Konata remarked when she was finished, looking at the contrast between the ribbon and the hair. It was almost identical to the contrast between the otaku's hair and ribbon, since the ribbons the pair wore were the colour of each others' hair. "It suits you more now, I like it."

"You really mean that?" The lilac-haired girl asked, slightly surprised. She had expected teasing, like when she, her twin and Konata had all tied their hair into ponytails before.

"Of course I do! Why would I lie? Looking like a samurai doesn't suit a schoolgirl." Konata replied, mock horror in her voice.

"I did not look like a samurai! Besides, you're a nice person. I think you'd pretend you like it rather than risk hurting my feelings." Kagami snapped back, normal personality resurfacing for a moment.

"Aaagh! The dragon is back, run for your lives!" Konata continued, teasing her friend to mask her thoughts.

_I'm glad Kagami's beginning to act like normal again; I was worried that everything might have changed her personality. Not that I mind seeing so much of her deredere side._

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a monster or some sort of wild animal!" Kagami retorted, refraining from shouting properly due to the returning headache.

"No, you're not some sort of wild animal, you're a domestic one, remember? You're a cute little bunny-rabbit." Konata teased, sticking her tongue out childishly when the tsundere turned to face her.

Kagami didn't say anything for a minute, the smile returning to her face – she didn't mind being compared to a bunny-rabbit – out of all domesticated animals, they happened to be her favourite and she knew that she got lonely easily, so the comparison was accurate. She just hoped that Konata never decided to dress her up in a bunny-girl costume to make the comparison literal, suspecting that the otaku would take photos and show them to people – the actual dressing up didn't bother the tsundere, it was the thought of others, except her love-interest, finding out about it.

"If I'm a bunny-rabbit, then I'm a very sleepy one." The lilac-haired girl eventually answered, yawning. "Though I can't go straight to sleep, since the suitcases are in the way…"

"Just put them under the bed, there's nothing there and there's more than enough room." Konata suggested, pointing out the one place the tsundere hadn't considered – Kagami had assumed that the currently-absent piles of manga had merely been relocated to a less obtrusive position rather than neatly put away.

Following the instructions, the violet-eyed girl put the suitcases away whilst the otaku moved to her computer and switched it on, planning to use most of the rest of the day to finish a dating sim and spend any spare time on levelling up on the MMORPG she played.

Half an hour later, Konata had made no progress with her game, thoughts wandering and eyes often resting upon the now-slumbering Kagami. She continued trying to play for another half an hour but eventually gave up, spending the rest of the time before dinner researching something she couldn't get out of her mind on the internet.

By dinner, Konata felt closer to knowing the true extent of her feelings for Kagami than she ever had, though still slightly unsure. After several attempts, the other three people eating gave up trying to talk to the blue-haired girl, as her mind was obviously elsewhere.

After eating, the otaku found where she had put the Haruhi light novels and put the first beside Kagami's head, then got the first few pieces of homework from the box and tried to make a start on them. Eventually Konata gave up and returned to her dating sim, not stopping for sleep until she finished it.

_It's late but there's still plenty of time I could spend online. Then again, everyone else has gone to sleep, since all noise stopped an hour or so ago, and I'm tired. I suppose I'll go to sleep, then… but what were those noises earlier?_

Still wondering about the noises, Konata lay down to sleep, grogginess causing her to move the Haruhi book to the nearest flat surface (a nightstand oddly positioned on the other side of the bedside chair) and lie down in her bed, forgetting Kagami was there and quickly falling asleep, not wondering about the added warmth.

Sojirou, not quite as asleep as his daughter believed, walked past the room a few minutes later, glancing in before shutting the open door.

Smiling, the author continued onwards.

* * *

**AN: Such a fluffy chapter. I think I like this one more than the hug one.**

**How many more Haruhi references do you think I can put into this fic? Heheh. ^^**


	11. Decision

**AN: Why am I putting these notes in every chapter when I'm going to upload all of them I've written this week at once? Hmm…

* * *

**

Kagami woke first the next morning, wondering why she could feel something gripping her waist. A quick glance confirmed that it was Konata, who had rolled and embraced the tsundere shortly after falling asleep.

"Konata?" The lilac-haired girl whispered, only half wanting to wake the smaller girl and break the embrace – after all, wasn't Konata still unsure about her feelings for her friend? And if that was the case, why had she ended up in the same bed as Kagami again?

_I'll just leave her there, she looks so peaceful when she's sleeping – it must be the only time she's ever calm. I wish that we could just stay like this forever, Konata holding me like this…_

Feeling sleepy again, the tsundere closed her eyes, letting the warmth and the regular sound of Konata's breathing lull her to sleep, a protective arm reaching down and pulling the otaku even closer to the lilac-haired girl's body.

The slight pressure being applied on her shoulder and back woke Konata, who sleepily looked at the fan of lavender hair resting between her and her friend. Realising where she had slept and that she was holding her friend, the azure-haired girl went to move away and get up but a murmur of displeasure from Kagami made her reconsider and stay locked in the embrace, thinking.

_Do I even want to let go? It's warm and comfortable, Kagamin is so soft… but would I be considering this if it was another person, even Miyuki or Tsukasa? Wouldn't I just let go and wake them up? If I would do that to them, then why am I not doing it to my tsundere? Wait, mine? Kagami's not mine, she's hers! But wouldn't she want to be mine?_

Emerald eyes glanced at the wall beyond Kagami, looking for a clock. Eventually one was found and the time read – half seven, early enough that lying around waiting for the indigo-eyed girl to wake up would still leave plenty of time in the day to do other things.

_Or do I just want it to be early so I can stay like this for as long as possible? Kagami likes it and even if this was uncomfortable I'd put up with it since it makes her happy. That reminds me, what were those signs of being in love I found last night? Thinking of someone all the time, check; everything reminding you of them, not really; caring more about their safety and happiness than your, check; caring more about your own appearance, yes because otherwise I probably wouldn't have kept my hair like this… I really need to brush it; wanting to know more about them, probably, I keep wanting to ask Kagami questions; wanting to impress them, I suppose… otherwise why would I have tried to start doing the homework rather than asking for help? Not wanting to spend as much time with your friends… I haven't been spending as much time with them as before recently, even before I broke my leg; commitment not seeming like such a nightmare… any commitment like that still seems ominous; not noticing members of the opposite sex… shouldn't it be either sex, in this case? I didn't really before so that's not much of a sign. So, out a grand total of nine signs… 1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6 apply. My first suspicions were right, I do love her. I suppose I'll have to say when she wakes up._

Mind at rest at last, Konata buried her head in Kagami's soft body, wondering why the tsundere always worried about her weight – she wasn't overweight to the best of the otaku's knowledge – and if she lost any weight she wouldn't be as soft. That was another thing that Konata felt she should mention, though probably not at the same time.

The feeling of being used as a pillow woke Kagami up again, automatically saying 'good morning' as the new feeling suggested that Konata was also awake.

"You're soft, Kagamin." The otaku replied, sounding sleepy despite having been awake for nearly half an hour. "It's comfortable here."

Kagami didn't answer, thinking any hope that Konata had ended up beside her due to love had been ended, assuming that the blue-haired girl had only slept there as it was comfortable.

"I decided something a few minutes ago." The small girl continued, not bothered by the silence. What she was about to say would certainly end it. "Whilst I only slept in this bed because I'd forgotten you were here, I've decided I'll continue to sleep here in the future because…"

Kagami felt irritated at Konata's pause, seeing as it was only there for dramatic effect – if the otaku wasn't going to tell her the reason, she wouldn't have spoken.

"Well, because it's comfortable and you're nice and soft but also because I've worked my feelings out. I love you, Kagami." Konata finished, unable to keep a slight blush from her cheeks.

"Konata…" Kagami breathed, sure this was a dream. Where else would she get to hear the one thing that she wanted to, where else would Konata decide to sleep in the same bed as the tsundere for the foreseeable future?

"I mean it, Kagamin." Konata replied, looking straight at her friend and seeing the disbelief etched onto her features. "We're not going to get very far if you don't believe that I love you, are we? How am I supposed to prove it to you? I'm already sleeping in your bed."

"Well… I don't know," the tsundere replied, embarrassed at doubting the otaku, "I guess I'm just worried that you're saying that just to make me happy."

Konata's reply was to pull herself carefully up the bed so that the two girls' heads were level, stare at Kagami's eyes for a minute and suddenly give the other girl a long kiss.

"Is that good enough proof?" The otaku asked when they had finished, smiling and returning to her previous position, with the minor change that Kagami was facing her and embracing Konata in return.

"That's more than enough, my love." Kagami replied, overjoyed at being able to call Konata by those two words, something that had previously only happened in her dreams.

"That's good because I can only think of one thing to do that beats that and I think that would be rather messy, as well as problematic considering my leg." Konata said, relieved.

"K-K-Konata!" Kagami spat out, embarrassed at the meaning behind the blue-haired girl's words.

"If you're still sleepy, why not go back to sleep?" Konata said, changing subject entirely with no warning.

"I suppose that's a good idea, I still feel tired… I suppose I still have a fever, too." Kagami replied, closing her eyes and trying to go back to sleep.

"By the way, Kagamin, stop worrying about your weight. I like you how you are – not overweight but still nicely padded and soft, like a living pillow." The otaku said to her lilac-haired lover. "I like my tsundere with a bit of cushioning."

"Konata…" Kagami replied, unsure whether that was a compliment or not. "Don't reply, just sleep."

The emerald-eyed girl took the tsundere's advice, pulling the covers all the way over her head and up to the other girl's chin, creating a warm nest for herself beside the lavender-eyed schoolgirl.

For once, neither girl stayed awake noticeably longer than the other and shortly both were slumbering peacefully.

* * *

**AN: This decision was supposed to mark the end of this actual story (and maybe the start of another) but it doesn't after all because I think it makes things work better.**

**I haven't asked for a few chapters, so I've decided now is the time. More reviews, please? ;)**


	12. Whisperings

**AN: I have developed an idiosyncratic way for Tsukasa to refer to each of her sisters, starting with the already-existing one:**

**Onee-chan = Kagami**

**Onee-san = Matsuri**

**Onee-sama = Inori**

**Inori earned the lack of familiarity.**

**

* * *

**

Tsukasa was slightly confused when she visited later the same day, wondering why her sister and friend both had ponytails, along with ribbons identical to each others hair colour. She didn't know it but if she had arrived half an hour earlier, she would have found the two still asleep, rather than Kagami reading Haruhi and Konata idly flicking through manga.

"Good evening, Kona-chan, Onee-chan." Tsukasa said, standing at the door. After she was greeted in reply, the airheaded-twin asked if she could come in, ending up sitting on the chair beside the bed. It was only then that she noticed the other two were both on the bed, though she didn't jump to any conclusions.

"Has anything interesting happened at school?" Konata asked, closing the manga she had been reading and adding it to the ever-growing pile on the nightstand.

"Yuki-chan had to see the dentist again. Apart from that, not much has happened." Tsukasa dutifully replied, realising that she had forgotten something and hastily adding it. "Oh and there are quite a lot of rumours going around the school because of what happened Tuesday."

"Name some of the rumours, please." Kagami requested, wondering just what the school was saying about her and Konata.

"One of them is that you killed Kona-chan and got arrested, so you won't be coming back to school." Tsukasa explained, "People who say that roughly know what happened."

"What are the others, then?" Kagami questioned, whilst Konata produced a piece of paper and a pen from somewhere, writing down the rumours as Tsukasa listed them.

"One is that Kona-chan died and you went on the run… another is that she didn't die but you still got arrested. Another is that you thought she had died and went on the run." Tsukasa listed, not sure if she had remembered them all.

"Are there any others?"

"I'm not sure… those are the rumours that have anything to do with what happened. There might be others. Oh, I can remember one more. Some people that don't know anything about what happened but know you're friends have been suggesting that you're more than friends and have been skipping school to do… things." Kagami's twin replied, blushing.

"I guess that means there's another rumour that the stair incident was just there to get us out of school so we could ha-" Konata continued, Kagami interrupting the otaku before she said anything awkward.

"Just because people would be saying things like that doesn't mean you have to!" The tsundere snapped, wanting to avoid the entire subject until some time in the future.

"Is my Kagamin embarrassed?" The emerald-eyed girl teased. "Well that rumour can't be true if you're embarrassed talking about it."

"Isn't there a more obvious reason that it wouldn't happen?" Tsukasa asked, not completely blind to when things seemed strange.

"You mean my leg?" Konata asked, forgetting that no-one knew about her decision that morning apart from her girlfriend. "Oh, that. That's not a problem any more."

"It's not? Does that mean…"

"Yes it does, we're together, now. Don't tell anyone, please?" Kagami requested, joining in the conversation. She didn't mind her twin knowing – there was no point in keeping it from Tsukasa, she may not have been the fastest but she would keep thinking about it until she finally worked out that Kagami and Konata were together.

"I won't, onee-chan. But are you going to tell onee-san?" Tsukasa asked, thinking Matsuri should also know.

"I think we should tell Matsuri, since she told Konata without realising I could hear…" Kagami mused, "But if Inori or our parents find out things will probably get worse. It has to be kept from them."

"I understand, onee-chan."

"Find out what?" A familiar, green-haired girl asked, coming past at exactly the wrong time for those having a private conversation inside.

Kagami hesitated, not sure what to say without seeming rude, and her twin kept silent as it wasn't her decision whether or not people should know. The room's owner showed no hesitation in informing Minami that if she found Yutaka and Sojirou they would find out.

"Why do you want to tell everyone that lives here that? It doesn't seem like a good idea that everyone should know; what if your cousin or Minami don't like the idea?" the tsundere asked, worried that she would feel uncomfortable even in Konata's home.

"There's no chance that they'll object to it, don't worry. My dad certainly won't, which you seem to have noticed. Besides, Yutaka lives here and is bound to find out sooner or later and Minami spends enough time here that she will be sure to notice as well. Plus I get the feeling my dad already things that we're together like this." Konata explained, not giving any hint as to why Minami and Yutaka wouldn't complain. Before Kagami had time to ask, the green-haired girl returned with a salmon-haired schoolgirl and an author in tow.

"What don't you want most of Kagami's family finding out?" Sojirou asked, thinking he knew after what he had seen last night. If he had known that Konata hadn't decided until the morning after, he would have felt rather stupid.

"Before we say, everyone has to promise that they won't let word of it get outside this house, except to Matsuri Hiiragi and only then if she promises not to tell anyone else." Konata requested, explaining once her father, cousin and cousin's girlfriend had promised.

"That's brilliant, onee-chan!" Yutaka exclaimed, surprising the tsundere who had been expecting a more conservative and less accepting response. Yutaka's guardian angel also seemed happy at the news and by the way that she hovered close to the sickly girl, Kagami felt she could guess why they were responding like that. Sojirou's reaction was as overenthusiastic as expected, since he picked Konata up and hugged her.

"Why are you telling me this?" Minami asked after Sojirou had put his daughter back on the bed. She wondered why she had been included in this – letting relatives know made sense but telling someone outside it seemed strange.

"Your relationship with Yutaka practically makes you family and you're here so much that you practically live here. That doesn't seem like a bad idea, since you slept here last night. Do you know what the noises I heard just before I went to sleep were, by the way?" Konata replied, the blush that spread across Yutaka and Minami's faces telling her what the noises were, familiar from dating sims now she thought about it but more muffled than they were in the games.

"You weren't supposed to tell people that we're in a relationship like that." The smallest girl mumbled, more embarrassed that Konata had heard than the fact the Hiiragi twins knew about the relationship – Kagami lived in the same house as her, after all, and Tsukasa seemed like she would keep secrets.

"We all know each others' secrets, so there's no harm done." Konata replied, noticing the twins were as embarrassed as the girls that had been making the noise and that only she and her father weren't blushing.

The small assembly quickly broke up; Minami and Yutaka going to the salmon-haired girl's room, Tsukasa heading home and Sojirou going to do whatever it was he was doing before Minami came and found him.

"I see why you said they wouldn't be offended." Kagami noted, still blushing slightly from learning about what had been happening whilst she slept. "How long have they been together?"

"About six months, I think." The emerald-eyed girl answered, then falling silent for a few minutes; leaning into the warm body of the tsundere. Eventually she broke the silence with a simple request, asking Kagami to help her with the homework Kuroi had brought.

"I'll help you but I won't give you the answers." Kagami answered; glad to change the topic so she could stop thinking about what the other girls had done.

"Aww. I guess that's better than nothing." The otaku replied, going to find where she had put the homework that she had tried to start.

Kagami breathed a sigh of relief – if Konata had attempted to persuade her to do it for her, there would have been no way that she could have resisted, especially given the feelings of fatigue and aches that signalled her remaining ill.

Not that the tsundere would mind doing it for her otaku – as long as Konata was happy, nothing else mattered. Homework was a paltry thing to do to maintain that.

Konata's happiness came before everything else.

* * *

**AN: I have little control over where this story is headed at this point. It's going where it wants.**

**I like ending chapters with lines that make me feel it's the end of the chapter. ^^**


	13. Nightmare

Kagami's condition had improved enough by Tuesday of the following week that she would be well enough to go to school on the Wednesday. However, as if to spite her, the previously absent nightmares returned for what she hoped would be one last time on the night before.

At first the nightmares were those that had come before, occasionally with a change here or there – generally starting with Konata falling down the stairs and dying, progressing from there to multitudes of unlikely but still plausible scenarios. Eventually, though, the realism and familiarity gave way to a long, surreal nightmare seemingly narrated from a first-person perspective by the tsundere's own thoughts.

_Konata slept in my arms, blue hair lank and without its normal life, almost like the hair of a corpse buried for weeks, decaying and dirt-covered. I reached to brush it off but when I moved my hand my sleeping love grabbed it in a grip that cut off all circulation, a grip stronger than Konata's could ever be. Still maintaining that deathly grip, my otaku rolled over, accompanied by the snap of the bones in her arm breaking, though the hold stayed as strong as ever. The decay of her hair stained her hands and face but it wasn't my girlfriend – it was my sister, lifeless plum-coloured hair covered by a wig made from Konata's scalp. A deathly pallor covered her skin and one eye looked like it had been pecked out by a bird._

"_Surprised to see me, Kagami? Of course you are – it was you who put me in the grave, after all." Inori hissed, voice rasping and sounding as dead as she looked._

"_You're wrong, I didn't kill you; you're still alive!" I replied, voice hesitant and weak in the face of my sister's corpse._

"_Do I look alive to you? No, you killed me. Not directly but you killed me as surely as our sisters." The reply came, spat out as if my eldest sister had to rid herself of every word as quickly as possible._

"_I would never kill you and neither would they!" I defended, confusion filling my heart – I had never wanted to kill Inori; not even when she hit me, why would I help to do it?_

"_I killed myself but all of you caused it. You all had what I didn't – friends, love – and I was left alone, abandoned by my own family. Abandoned by everyone – I wanted someone to love me, too! Gender didn't matter; I just wanted to be loved! No-one even noticed I'd died until my corpse had hung in my room for days and a bird had taken my eye!" Inori countered, continuing in a mocking tone when I didn't reply. "And then you lost Konata, lost her to a disease no-one could do nothing about, watching her suffer even though it meant you never saw my funeral. And then she died, yet days later you still climbed into the same bed as this blue hair and hug your sister's corpse. How pitiful you are to believe that I'm your love."_

"_That's not true, that can't be true! I spoke to Konata last night, she was fine! And Tsukasa would have mentioned if you had died on Monday! You're both still alive!" I said; voice manic as I leapt out of the bed, tore my arm from Inori's grip and ran from the building whilst my sister's body burst into flame and set the room alight._

_When I stopped running, I stood by a gravestone with sentences carved beneath the name, obviously written by the father of the deceased whilst he mourned. I read the sentences before looking at the name, wondering who they could be referring to: "Here lies my daughter, killed by the same illness that took her mother from me but without the comfort of a lover's presence; never having known that type of love, only the fleeting affection of a friend, a stone-hearted fiend with no thought for others who abandoned my daughter before the end." Inevitably my eyes glanced upwards to read the name carved into the stone – Izumi Konata. _

"_No! It's not true! I loved her! I would never leave Konata, even on her death bed!" I argued, shouting at the stone and at the slowly lightening heavens, cursing the approaching sun for giving me the light to read these spiteful lies._

"_You left her; you left my Konata to die alone purely so you could get some chocolate for yourself!" A male voice called, claiming that I had done something I would never do, even at the cost of my own life. I turned to see Konata's father looking more depressed than I had ever seen him, used to seeing him as a cheerful and helpful yet perverted and rather creepy author._

"_I didn't! Inori said I saw her suffer and die, so I must have been there! I loved her, I wouldn't leave!" The manic note from earlier still lingering in my voice as I backed away from the author, only now realising that I was dressed in pyjamas._

"_Inori said? Inori has been dead for months! How can you have talked to her? It's not possible to communicate with the dead!" Sojiro snarled back, furious at me for trying to use an excuse that wasn't possible. "Mad, that's what you are! Insane!"_

"_For your fickleness, abandoning my daughter in addition to all your family and friends, and icy heart, the dead have been allowed to return to aid the living in making you suffer and repent. But only you can see us." A kind voice said, familiar yet strange and the sound of the voice contradicting the meanings of the words it spoke. The voice came from a translucent figure beside Sojiro, so similar to Konata that it made my heart ache to look at her. There was only one person it could possibly be – Kanata, my love's mother._

"_Leave me alone, both of you! I never would have abandoned her!" I screamed; running and searching for a cliff. I easily found a small one, throwing myself off it without a second thought, just wanting to escape the accusations of abandoning my otaku when she needed me most._

_Blackness consumed me, full of nothing but silence until Tsukasa's voice filled the void, calling: "onee-chan" repeatedly._

"_Onee-chan, you have to wake up! I don't want to lose you as well as onee-same and Kona-chan." My twin's voice said quietly as I woke, lying in a hospital bed and seeing her face covered in tears. "I knew you took onee-sama's death hard, even though you weren't at the funeral. Maybe you took Kona-chan's death hard as well, though you abandoned her before she died…"_

"_Not you too! Why does everyone think that I abandoned Konata! I love her, I wouldn't leave her! Why does everyone want to make me suffer!" I shouted; clutching my head and standing up despite the dizziness – I must have hit my head when I fell._

"_Onee-chan-"_

"_Just leave me alone! Go away!" I snapped, angrier at Tsukasa than I had ever been before. Without stopping to look at the expression on her face – I knew what it would look like, the hurt and worried look burned into my imagination – I ran, looking at signs to find the roof and following them, blindly pushing past people and ignoring orders to stop._

_After what seemed an eternity of running through a maze of corridors, I found the stairs upwards and took them two at a time to the roof, surprised when I burst through the unlocked doors, having expected them to be sealed shut. Equally surprising was the fact that an area lacked railings, though the tools and metal scattered around it suggested that it was being replaced and that the workers had gone to get something to eat, since the sun now shone down brightly._

_As I stood, peering over the edge despite my lasting dizziness, someone burst onto the roof behind me, screaming, "No, onee-chan!"_

_I turned to face my sister, arms spread wide as I fell backwards into an escape from the accusations, replying with a single word she couldn't here before oblivion claimed me again: "Yes."_

"Wake up, Kagamin. Wake up." Konata asked, shaking her lover without any idea about the nightmare Kagami had just endured – the tsundere's face was relatively impassive, despite the way the dream had tormented her and Konata was waking her purely because she would have otherwise overslept, unusual since the otaku was normally late to school herself.

The lilac-haired girl quickly awoke and surprised Konata, who was still in bed and had her hair down, by pulling the otaku into a tight embrace and muttering the same sentences again and again almost too quickly to follow: "Please don't fall ill and die, Konata. Please don't die. Please don't leave me."

"Aah!" Konata exclaimed, startled by the hug and not understanding her tsundere's words for a minute before finally making sense of what Kagami was saying. That realised, the emerald-eyed girl began to worry and wondered what sort of expression was on her girlfriend's face. "Why are you saying that, Kagami? I'm not ill so I'm not about to die."

"Nightmare." Kagami eventually explained, going on to explain between occasional whimpers as the dream replayed inside her head. "First I was holding you but your hair looked decayed, then you grabbed my arm only you were Inori's corpse and she had ended up being hanged in her room because she was the only one in our family with no friends or lovers. She told me that and that I had watched you suffer and die from an incurable illness. Then I ran away and she burst into flame and set your room on fire. Then I found your gravestone but your father had written that I'm a stone-hearted fiend and that I had abandoned you before you died. I shouted at the gravestone and then argued with your father before your mother's ghost arrived and accused me as well. I ran again and… fell off a cliff. When I woke up in hospital, Tsukasa said the same thing and I shouted at her before running to the roof and standing on the edge when she burst onto the roof after me and…"

Konata didn't ask for Kagami to finish the dream, it was obvious she had reached the end and the pause after she said fall was enough to make it clear what had actually happened in the dream. The otaku was slightly surprised that Kagami's love for her was great enough she would do something like that if accused of abandoning her love, even if it was only in a dream.

"Kagami, can you please let go of me? It's hard to breathe." Konata said to fill the silence, as well as for practical reasons. The tsundere loosened her grip but still didn't end the embrace, keeping her head buried in the blue-haired girl's shoulder.

"I suppose I should get ready for school, now…" Kagami said after a few more minutes with nothing but the sound of their breathing filling the room.

"I don't think you're in any state to go to school today." The otaku said, concerned, and overruling Kagami's objections by stating that the rumours going around the school would just make things worse and that as far as the school was concerned she was still ill with the flu. When Kagami continued hugging her, Konata suggested she try and go back to sleep.

"You'll stay here and hold me, right?" Kagami asked in a small voice as she sank back under the covers, not wanting to try and sleep without the comfort Konata's embrace would bring for fear of another nightmare like the last.

"Yes, I'll hold you." Konata answered, smiling slightly and lying next to Kagami, embracing her tightly but not so much that it was uncomfortable. "Just try and sleep, Kagamin. I'll be here when you wake."

As she listened to Kagami's breathing deepen and slow, the otaku considered that lying in bed bored for hours was a small price to pay for her tsundere's happiness.

* * *

**AN: Is this a suitable chapter for number 13? I hope it is, I spent five hours writing it. I wrote most of the nightmare whilst listening to Low of Solipsism from the Death Note soundtrack, which might explain why it's so dramatic and depressing.**

**Can I have reviews for writing the longest chapter yet, please? =P**

**There's actually some hints to what's going to happen in later chapters here but I've hinted at so many possibilities that guessing won't work. Here's a hint: M/? ----- Next pairing. Not a reference to M-rated content. Silly people. =P**


	14. NOTE

Seeing as I've written myself into something of a rut (it's hard to think of anything to continue this), I'm going to go back and rewrite this. Whilst the events are going to be the same, there's going to be far more build-up and I'm going to try and reduce some of the fragmentariness from this. Some chapters might be combined, as well. Since I've suspended work on my other fanfics whilst I do this, it shouldn't take an unbearably long amount of time.

As for those of you who thought this was another chapter, however short, I'm sorry.

The next fanfic will probably have a name similar to this one, by the way.


End file.
